Mother of missing Marina del Rey woman questions husband's reaction

A Marina del Rey man who reported his wife missing five days ago angrily defended himself Thursday against insinuations from the woman's mother that his reactions to her disappearance were "very strange."

Alan Weiss, who was questioned by Sheriff's Department homicide investigators on Wednesday, declined to do an interview with the Daily Breeze.

"Right now she is a missing person, and I want this to just be about Rebecca," Weiss said during a brief telephone call. "People who know me, know me, and that's just the way I'm going to leave it."

Weiss reported his wife missing on Saturday night. He told deputies she went snorkeling near the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes and failed to return home. Four days of searching failed to locate her body in the ocean.

Rebecca Weiss' mother, Vilma Causey, said she questioned aspects of her son-in-law's story and said she found it strange that he refused to do news interviews to help find his wife if she is still alive.

"I would react differently if it was my husband or my family," Causey said. "I would not leave the place they are searching. Other people are searching and you are not there?"

Sheriff's homicide investigators interviewed Weiss Wednesday night. Lt. Holly Francisco said he provided the same information to detectives that he submitted Saturday when he made his missing persons report.

"They did interview the husband and nothing has changed," Francisco said. "We have no reason to doubt (his report.)"

According to deputies, Weiss said his wife of 18 years left their Marina del Rey condominium in a wetsuit on Saturday to go free-diving near the resort.

Weiss went looking for her after she failed to return home at 5 p.m. He located her bag on the beach and her BMW parked nearby.

He reported her missing, sparking an all-night search and repeated searches by divers over the next four days.

Her body was not located in the ocean.

Francisco said detectives are working to find anyone who saw Rebecca Weiss at the beach, and are looking for any surveillance video that can place her there.

In interviews with reporters, Causey has questioned her son-in-law's behavior and suggested he had a girlfriend.

In an interview with the Daily Breeze, Causey said she questioned why her daughter would have left her house in a wetsuit on a hot day and why her husband did not join the ocean search.

"He has a boat," Causey said. "If I had a boat, I would be out there, too. I would have that boat out there where the people are searching."

Causey said she does not believe her daughter, an experienced free-diver who has traveled to Belize, Costa Rica and Hawaii, would find trouble in the Rancho Palos Verdes surf.

Causey visited the area Wednesday, calling it beautiful.

"That water is nothing compared to other parts of the world she has dived," Causey said. "That's simply snorkeling. It's a very safe place with the resort in there where people are in and out. It's unbelievable that something happened over there that nobody would notice."

Georgeanne Whitney, who described herself as Rebecca Weiss' "second mother," said the Weisses were married, but live separate lives, each with their own room at their condominium. Rebecca Weiss had looked into divorcing her husband in the past, but chose not to do so.

"They weren't at odds, theoretically," Whitney said. "They had this understanding that they could come and go as they please."

According to family, Rebecca Weiss worked as a bookkeeper at West Central Produce in Los Angeles. Whitney and Causey said they believe she was fired two weeks ago.

Alan Weiss works as a food broker at the same company. Chester Frangipani, the company's president, denied in a brief phone call that Rebecca Weiss worked there.

Property records show the Weisses and Frangipani jointly own a condominium in Florida.

Causey and Whitney, meanwhile, are waiting for word about Rebecca Weiss' whereabouts. Five days after Rebecca Weiss' disappearance, they hope she is alive somewhere, but fear the worst.

"You do worry, but still I am not going to accept that something really happened to her," Causey said. "Maybe that is just a mother's instinct. I have this feeling she is OK, but on the other hand there is this feeling, `What happened?' Either way, I want to find out."

If her daughter is alive, Causey pleaded with her to contact someone. Rebecca Weiss' brother, Robert Causey, is a sheriff's deputy.

"Just let us know wherever she is," the mother said, choking back tears. "If she could, if it's possible for her, just let us everybody know."

Alan Weiss said he would do no interviews until detectives contact him in the next day or two. He said he heard about his mother-in-law's interviews and rejected them, saying Causey had not talked to her daughter in a year.

"Ask her which finger she used to call me," he said. "She wants to make this about her."